Wednesday, May 10, 2017

New on DVD and Blu-ray: May 9, 2017

New on DVD and Blu-ray this week we have everyone's favorite "so bad it's good movie" of 2017, "Fifty Shades Darker", a double feature Blu-ray edition of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes", and the true story of "A Street Cat Named Bob". We also have the first season of the HBO comedy series "Divorce" and the fourth season of Netflix's "Orange is the New Black".

In the oldies but goldies category we have new Blu-ray releases for Michael Mann's "Heat", John Waters' "Serial Mom", Lawrence Kasdan's "The Accidental Tourist", the 1988 horror film "Brain Damage" and Gus Van Sant's much-maligned "Psycho" remake.

Check out all the new movies and TV shows released on DVD and Blu-ray after the jump.

Click the Links Below to Jump directly to the selected DVD/Blu-ray Release:

MOVIES

FIFTY SHADES DARKER (2017)

Product Description: Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson return as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele in Fifty Shades Darker, the second chapter based on the worldwide bestselling Fifty Shades phenomenon. When a wounded Christian tries to entice a cautious Anastasia back into his life, she demands a new arrangement before she will give him another chance. As the two begin to build trust and find stability, shadowy figures from Christian's past start to circle the couple. Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson) and Elena Lincoln (Kim Basinger) join the cast, determined to destroy the couple's hopes for a future together. This time there are no rules.

The Masquerade – This featurette about one of the film's most iconic scenes — the masquerade benefit event at Grey Mansion — explores the production design and costumes and goes behind-the-scenes with the filmmakers and main cast members.

Intimate With Darker – An intense look and discussion about the intimate, sensual and provocative world of Fifty Shades Darker, including a visit to the Red Room and, of course, the new "toys!"

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES + DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Double Feature Blu-ray

Product Description: 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' - At the story's heart is Caesar (Andy Serkis), a chimpanzee who gains human-like intelligence and emotions from an experimental drug. Raised like a child by the drug's creator (James Franco), Caesar ultimately finds himself taken from the humans he loves and imprisoned. Seeking justice, Caesar assembles a simian army and escapes -- putting man and primate on a collision course that could change the planet forever. 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' - A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth's dominant species.

DYING LAUGHING (2016)

Product Description: Featuring Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Amy Schumer, Kevin Hart, Bob Saget, Jamie Foxx, Sarah Silverman, Jerry Lewis, Steve Coogan, Bobby Lee, & the late Garry Shandling, DYING LAUGHING is a candid look inside the agony and ecstasy of making people laugh for a living. A stand-up comedian must be the writer, the director, and the star performer. There is no rehearsal, no practice, and no safety net when you’re in front of a live audience. For most people, baring their soul on stage and having an audience “boo” at you would become a life-long trauma, but for stand-up comedians, it’s a nightly challenge. The funny and heartfelt documentary contains original interviews interlaced with personal footage of life on the road – all from a comedian's point of view. Once you take this step behind the curtain, you will never look at these funny folks the same way again.

THINGS TO COME (2016)

Product Description: What happens when the life you ve worked so hard to build falls apart all at once? Nathalie (Isabelle Huppert, in a radiant performance) is a philosophy teacher with a seemingly settled existence, juggling a rich life of the mind with the day-to-day demands of career and family (including frequent visits to her drama queen mother, played by the legendary Édith Scob). But beginning with the bombshell revelation that her husband of twenty-five years is leaving her, one by one the pillars of Nathalie s life start to crumble. For the first time in ages, she finds herself adrift, but also with a newfound sense of liberation. With nothing to hold her back, Nathalie sets out to define this new phase of her life and to rediscover herself. Winner of the Best Director award at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival, the new film from Mia Hansen-Løve (Eden) is an uncommonly intelligent, soul-searching look at what it means to create a life of one s own.

STARLIGHT (L'étoile du jour) (2012)

Product Description: Set in the dunes near the North Sea, a small circus company is suffering from a serious lack of audience for their shows. The most to be worried of is the two love triangle among the troupe leading the desperate ones to call on magic and spells. Angele, the diaphanous ballerina, her clown lover Elliot and the circus ringmaster, full of cruelty and disturbed by fits of schizophrenia on one side, and Zohra in love with Elliot, haunted by an uncanny conscience. Secrets, jealousy, envy will progressively take hold of them and trigger some irreversible acts.

A FANTASTIC FEAR OF EVERYTHING (2012)

Product Description: Jack (Pegg) is a children’s author turned crime novelist whose detailed research into the lives of Victorian serial killers has turned him into a paranoid wreck, persecuted by an irrational fear of being murdered. When Jack is thrown a lifeline by his long-suffering agent, and a mysterious Hollywood executive takes a sudden and inexplicable interest in Jack’s script, what should be his "big break", rapidly turns into his "big breakdown", as Jack is forced to confront his worst fears; among them love, laundry and serial killers.

A STREET CAT NAMED BOB (2016)

Product Description: Based on the International Best Selling Book, A STREET CAT NAMED BOB is a moving and uplifting feel-good true story. When James Bowen found an injured, ginger street cat curled up in the hallway of his sheltered accommodation, he had no idea just how much his life was about to change. James was living hand to mouth on the streets of London and the last thing he needed was a pet. Yet James couldn't resist helping the strikingly intelligent tom cat, whom he quickly christened Bob. He slowly nursed Bob back to health and then sent the cat on his way, imagining he would never see him again. But Bob had other ideas. Soon the two were inseparable and their diverse, comic and occasionally dangerous adventures would transform both their lives, slowly healing the scars of each other's troubled pasts.

TELEVISION

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK Season 4 (Netflix)

Product Description: Orange Is the New Black is better than ever in its dark, dauntless fourth chapter." - THE BOSTON GLOBE. New faces and old resentments make for a potentially volatile blend, especially now that Litchfield is a for-profit business. Overrun with new inmates and overseen by inexperienced guards, the prison undergoes an unprecedented culture war. From Jenji Kohan, the creator of Weeds, Orange Is the New Black is a thought-provoking, funny, and evocative show about life in a women's prison. Nominated for 17 Primetime Emmy Awards, with 4 wins to date. Based on the best-selling memoir by Piper Kerman, the newest season of Orange Is the New Black delves into the racial and economic tensions that run rampant in the halls of Litchfield.

DIVORCE Season 1 (HBO)

Product Description: The half-hour comedy series DIVORCE (ten episodes) stars Sarah Jessica Parker, who also serves as an executive producer, as Frances, a woman who suddenly begins to reassess her life and her marriage, and finds that making a clean break and a fresh start is harder than she thought.

CLASSIC FILMS

PSYCHO (1998)

Product Description: Criminal on the run, Marion Crane (Anne Heche) take refuge at the motel operated by Norman Bates (Vince Vaughn): a troubled man whose victims encounter a grisly fate at the hands of his "mother. ", Marion soon becomes the next victim and her disappearance prompts inquiries from her sister (Julianne Moore) and a private investigator (William H. Macy). They both soon discover the morbid bond linking Norman to his mysterious "mother",at the Bates Motel. Relive the terror in acclaimed director Gus Van Sant’s all-new version of Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece of suspense...PSYCHO.

HEAT: DIRECTOR'S DEFINITIVE EDITION (1995)

Product Description: When Al Pacino and Robert De Niro square off, Heat sizzles. Written and directed by Michael Mann, Heat includes dazzling set pieces and a bank heist that USA Today's Mike Clark calls "the greatest action scene of recent times." It also offers "the most impressive collection of actors in one movie this year" (Newsweek). Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore and Ashley Judd are among the memorable supporting players in this tale of a brilliant L.A. cop (Pacino) following the trail from a deadly armed robbery to a crew headed by an equally brilliant master thief (De Niro).

Beverly (Turner) is the perfect happy homemaker. Along with her doting husband Eugene (Sam Waterston) and two children, Misty (Ricki Lake) and Chip (Matthew Lillard), she lives a life straight out of Good Housekeeping. But this nuclear family just might explode when Beverly’s fascination with serial killers collides with her ever-so-proper code of ethics: transforming her from middle class mom to mass murderer! Soon, the bodies begin to pile up… and suburbia faces a horror even worse than wearing white after Labor Day.

Featuring appearances by Mink Stole, Suzanne Somers, Traci Lords, and Patty Hearst, Serial Mom is a bloody hilarious tale that’s as American as motherhood, the flag, and apple die.

BRAIN DAMAGE (1988)

Product Description: From Frank Henenlotter, the man behind such cult horror favourites as Basket Case and Frankenhooker, comes Brain Damage the ultimate head-trip, now finally on Blu-ray! Meet Elmer. He s your local, friendly parasite with the ability to induce euphoric hallucinations in his hosts. But these LSD-like trips come with a hefty price tag. When young Brian comes under Elmer s addictive spell, it s not long before he finds himself scouring the city streets in search of his parasite s preferred food source brains! Featuring late TV horror host John Zacherley as the voice of Elmer, Brain Damage boasts some of the most astonishing bad taste gore-gags ever realized, including the notorious brain-pulling sequence and another that let's just say ends with a distinctly unconventional ''climax.

THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST (1988)

Product Description: Where to find your favorite fast-food hamburger in Paris? How many laundry-soap packets does a trip to Atlanta require? Ask Macon Leary, whose guidebooks are revered by home-loving business travelers who loathe being in transit. About matters of the heart, don’t ask Macon. He doesn’t have a clue. At least, not yet. This funny, tender film of Anne Tyler’s best seller reteams director Lawrence Kasdan with his Body Heat stars William Hurt and Kathleen Turner as misfiring Macon and wife Sarah, and showcases Geena Davis in her Best Supporting Actress Academy Award- winning* role of romantically inclined dog-trainer Muriel. Chosen as the year’s best movie by the New York Film Critics Circle and a nominee for three other Oscars, including Best Picture, The Accidental Tourist will leave you glowing.

MAKING CONTACT aka JOEY (1985)

Product Description: Following the death of his father, nine-year-old Joey finds himself at the center of a frightening series of phenomena, including telekinesis, phone calls from beyond the grave and one very sinister ventriloquist dummy with extremely homicidal instincts. But when the authorities arrive to investigate Joey's gifts, they unknowingly unleash a horrific supernatural force that no scientist can comprehend and only one boy can hope to stop. Roland Emmerich, the director of blockbusters Independence Day, Stargate, The Day After Tomorrow and Universal Soldier, wonderfully directed this haunting shocker.

JEANNE DIELMAN, 23, QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES (1975)

Product Description: A singular work in film history, Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles meticulously details, with a sense of impending doom, the daily routine of a middle-aged widow (Delphine Seyrig)—whose chores include making the beds, cooking dinner for her son, and turning the occasional trick. In its enormous spareness, Akerman’s film seems simple, but it encompasses an entire world. Whether seen as an exacting character study or one of cinema’s most hypnotic and complete depictions of space and time, Jeanne Dielman is an astonishing, compelling movie experiment, one that has been analyzed and argued over for decades.

THE RETURN OF SABATA (1971)

Product Description: The man with gunsight eyes is back and this time, he's judge, jury and executioner. The great Lee Van Cleef (Death Rides a Horse, Barquero) returns as the famous freewheeling gunslinger Sabata. This third and final go-round for the enigmatic sharpshooter who administers a unique brand of justice in the American West in the years following the Civil War finds Sabata in the role of victim. Sabata's skills as a gambler and thief are unparalleled. However, when a shifty band of desperadoes bilks him out of $5,000, he wants revenge. Legendary producer Alberto Grimaldi (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) and director Gianfranco Parolini (Sabata, We Are No Angels) took the Sabata series to another level, delivering the best and most action-packed film in the trilogy.

ADIOS, SABATA (1971)

Product Description: Legendary spaghetti western producer Alberto Grimaldi (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) produced this rousing chapter of the Sabata series, which sees screen icon Yul Brynner (Taras Bulba, Invitation to a Gunfighter) stepping into the title character s boots. Under the brutal rule of local garrison leader Colonel Skimmel and European tyranny, a group of Mexican revolutionaries hire gunslinger Sabata (Brynner) to rob a transport of Austrian gold in order to buy weapons. But Colonel Skimmel has other plans, taking the gold for himself and blaming the revolutionaries, but no scheming colonel is going to keep Sabata from earning his pay. Gianfranco Parolini (Sabata, God s Gun) directed this rip-roaring, action-packed western filled with fabulous gadgets and wicked humor.

OBSESSIONS (1969)

Product Description: The obscure film OBSESSIONS (aka A HOLE IN THE WALL) was directed by Dutch artsploitation auteur Pim de la Parra and co-produced by longtime collaborator Wim Verstappen (BLUE MOVIE). This gritty, psychedelic Hitchcockian mystery, which is notable for being the first Dutch film shot in English-language, starts in a savagely brutal fashion. When a bloody painting of Vincent van Gogh falls from a wall and exposes a makeshift peephole, student protagonist Nils Janssen (played by the film's German co-producer Dieter Geissler) becomes an unwitting witness to a gruesome sex crime next door. When his young fiancée Marina (Alexandra Stewart of Truffaut's DAY FOR NIGHT), an enterprising journalist, tells him about a report of a murder that she is writing, he naturally wonders if it's the very same killing.

THE LOVED ONE (1965)

Product Description: The funeral business gets a giant raspberry in this wickedly wacky, resplendently ridiculous farce based on Evelyn Waugh’s macabre comic masterpiece and directed with inspired verve by Tony Richardson (Tom Jones). But the American way of death isn’t the film’s only target: sex, greed, religion and mother love are also in the crosshairs of its satirical shots. Robert Morse plays a bemused would-be poet who gets entangled with an unctuous cemetery entrepreneur (Jonathan Winters), a mom-obsessed mortician (Rod Steiger) and other bizarre characters played by such adept farceurs as John Gielgud, Robert Morley, Tab Hunter, Milton Berle, James Coburn and Liberace. If The Loved One doesn’t make you laugh, call the undertaker!

MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR (1958)

Product Description: Newly Mastered in HD from a 4K scan! Marjorie Morningstar (Natalie Wood, Love with a Proper Stranger) is eighteen and very beautiful, an innocent young heart eager to explore the excitement of a career in the theater. She leaves her family and fiancé for a season of summer stock at an east coast resort, where she meets and falls in love with a handsome but worldly producer, Noel Airman (Gene Kelly, An American in Paris). Immediately attracted to her, he sweeps Marjorie off her feet and into a once-in-a-lifetime love affair. With his new love by his side, Noel decides to make the jump from the world of professional theater to the far more demanding Broadway. Irving Rapper (Now, Voyager) directed this beautifully made romantic drama co-starring Claire Trevor (Stagecoach), Everett Sloane (Citizen Kane), Carolyn Jones (The Addams Family), Martin Milner (TV s Adam-12 and Route 66), Martin Balsam (After the Fox), Jesse White (Harvey) and Edd Byrnes (77 Sunset Strip).

THE INDIAN FIGHTER (1955)

Product Description: Only one man has the power to stop the war! Screen Legends Kirk Douglas (The Devil s Disciple) and Walter Matthau (The Laughing Policeman) co-star in this exciting account about a man who made his name fighting Indians, but now must use his peacekeeping skills to keep wronged Sioux warriors from massacring a wagon train and a nearby fort. After the Civil War, Johnny Hawks (Douglas), the Indian Fighter, returns to the West and establishes a treaty with the Sioux Indians. But when renegade frontiersmen seeking a legendary Indian gold mine murder the brother of the Sioux chief, tensions escalate, endangering every man in the territory. The great Andre De Toth (Pitfall) directed this action-packed western featuring a stellar cast that includes Lon Chaney Jr. (Big House, U.S.A.), Elsa Martinelli (The Oldest Profession), Alan Hale Jr. (A Man Alone) and Elisha Cook Jr. (I Wake Up Screaming).